History

The Wesley Mission Center

The WMC had its origins in 1979 at First United Methodist Church, at its downtown Mansfield location. The church was holding its annual Lord’s Acre fundraiser, which included a garage sale. When the Lord’s Acre concluded, there were still items remaining, so the United Methodist Women offered to open up a classroom during the week and sell the remaining items. But rather than depleting the inventory… it began to grow as more people brought items to donate. Eventually, the UMW determined that they would like to continue raising funds through this impromptu “store,” but rather than benefiting the church, the funds would be used for community benevolence.

Several years later, the church relocated to its current location at the corner of Pleasant Ridge Drive and Walnut Creek Drive. At that time, several members of the church joined together to build “The Thrift Store,” an 1800-square-foot dedicated building to house the resale shop and use those funds to help our neighbors in need.

In 2013, the Wesley Mission Center became its own separately incorporated nonprofit and registered 501(c)3.